Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Draws Another Primary Challenger – This Time It’s Serious
By Jeff Reynolds
February 11, 2020
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Everybody’s favorite socialist bartender cum congressperson has had a rough go of it over the past few months. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, when not committing verbal gaffe after verbal gaffe, has seen her own party’s apparatus line up against her at the state and national level. Now, she’s drawn a second challenger in the Democratic primary for the 14th District of New York, this time a heavyweight – CNBC correspondent Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.
Michelle Caruso-Cabrera on assignment for CNBC in Havana, Cuba (via Wikipedia)
A self-described social liberal and fiscal conservative, Caruso-Cabrera will bring much-needed intellectual heft to the democratic primary debates. She has an Emmy award, a (real) economics degree from Wellesley, and a book about fiscal conservatism on her resume. The description on Amazon for her 2010 book, You Know I’m Right: More Prosperity, Less Government, reads:
As the popular anchor of CNBC's daily news show Power Lunch, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera puts a new spin on conservatism. Now, in You Know I'm Right, Caruso-Cabrera presents a modern and smart approach to correcting the economic woes of the nation. Denouncing the hypocrites, she calls out the radicals on both sides of the spectrum who have frustrated voters and left fiscally conservative but socially liberal Americans feeling like a people without a party.
Caruso-Cabrera maintains that by focusing on socially invasive policies, our country has lost its course. The answer is less government, not more; less spending, not more; and getting the government to stay out of our pocketbooks and out of our private lives. You Know I'm Right addresses the problems created by government overreach and speaks to the minds and hearts of nostalgic Republicans-those who believe in the strategy and approach used by Ronald Reagan. But it will also appeal to Clinton-era Democrats frustrated by the current level of exorbitant spending and excessive interference in the economy. Citing faults with both political parties, Caruso-Cabrera puts a magnifying glass on government structure, healthcare, and education, underscoring how we have gone wrong and, more important, where we need to go for a secure and prosperous future.
AOC had already drawn a primary challenger, a Bangladeshi activist by the name of Badrun Khan. Khan doesn’t seem to have much of a profile or name recognition, a problem that Caruso-Cabrera won’t face. It’s notable that AOC also drew a Republican challenger, Scherie Murray, a first-generation Jamaican immigrant and business owner.